Morin offers brief descriptions of each of her enumerations, which I’d encourage you to read. But from a high level, a common theme is conspicuous in her list: Children are being shielded from reality.

Now, perhaps this is natural to some degree. Reality, as they say, is a bitch. Or more poetically, in the words of T.S. Eliot, “Humankind cannot bear very much reality.”

It might be natural to shield one’s children from nature, but to do so excessively is not without unhealthy consequences. As Morin explains, “We've created an environment that fosters anxiety, rather than resilience in young people.”

How did this happen? In their book Gist: The Essence of Raising Life-Ready Kids, authors Michael W. Anderson, a licensed psychologist, and Timothy D. Johanson, an MD, suggest that many people today misperceive the nature of living.

“The true nature of life has always been that it is difficult,” the authors write. “Many in our culture may not believe this truth, and many children are not being taught this reality.”

Both parents and schools systems increasingly appear intent on nurturing self-esteem and protecting children from externalities of every kind. The problem is, as a result, many of these young people will not receive vital emotional skills and they will be unequipped to deal with the realities life presents, such as losing, divorce, teasing, rejection, and death.

These emotionally unequipped folks, Johanson and Anderson say, are easy to spot.

“People who have not internalized this are not hard to identify. These are the ones who complain when normal obstacles and disappointments converge on their lives. They feel as if life is unfair and they proclaim this injustice repeatedly. From the outside looking in, these people seem to be tormented by normalcy.”

One need not look far to see evidence of this phenomenon. The emotionally fragile millennial, the generation first introduced to these coddling techniques, is an idea so pervasive it has quickly become a cliché.

What is the solution? The Gist authors and Morin seem to agree on a good place to start: Begin to feed young people more truth. Let them face obstacles. Let them live.

Jon is the Director of Digital Media of Intellectual Takeout. He is responsible for daily editorial content, web strategy, and social media operations.

Jon previously was the Senior Editor of The History Channel Magazine, Managing Editor at Scout.com, and general assignment reporter for the Panama City News Herald. He also served as a White House intern in the speech writing department of George. W Bush.

Jon received degrees from the University of South Dakota (M.A.) and the University of Wisconsin-Platteville (B.A.), where he studied history and literature.

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